Celebrate half a century of growing with the University of Minnesota Crookston horticulture program as they host their 50th annual bedding plant sale starting April 23 with a substantial selection of student-grown flowers, vegetables, herbs, and hanging baskets. A portion of the proceeds from the plant sale go to the students’ horticulture club and recruitment for the program. U of M Crookston has the only four-year horticulture degree program in the entire state of Minnesota, and its students get real, hands-on learning experiences in campus gardens, greenhouses, and the great outdoors.
Dates and times for sale are April 23-25 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), May 2 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), May 3 (Commencement Sale 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.), May 8-9 and 15-16 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and May 23 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) in the production greenhouse. The greenhouse is located on the northeast side of the U of M Crookston campus across from the Sargeant Student Center parking lot A and Valley Technology Park on County Road 71.
Horticulture Club advisor and Lab Services Coordinator Theresa Helgeson says the prep for the plant sale includes all aspects of growing and is tied to the university’s commercial spring crops class. “Over the years we have tried to match plant selection based on what the industry puts on the market,” Helgeson explained. “While the students in the class help with all of this, we also utilize our student workers to help as well. The end result is beautiful marketable plants to sell.”
“With the funds generated from our sales, we are able to cover labor and supply costs,” she added. “We also are able to utilize the funds for new equipment and recruitment efforts for the Horticulture program.” The sales and support from both northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota has been “overwhelming”, Helgeson pointed out. She adds the connections students, faculty, and staff have been able to create through the plant sale have been ‘vital’, and she and others are thankful they’ve been able to carry out the mission of retired professor Roger Wagner, who started the annual plant sale.
Wagner, who was the head of the horticulture program for 30 years, remembers the start of production horticulture on campus and the very first bedding plant sale, which was “unbelievable.” “I’ll never forget the first sale; we didn’t publicize it as we didn’t want to be in competition with anybody,” Wagner recalled. “The first sale was to be at 1 p.m. and a serious crowd had developed out the door, so we opened the doors and sold out immediately. It turned 1 p.m. and we were already sold out.”
“We started the opportunity for students to develop production skills and be responsible, knowing seed identification and caring for the plants,” he added. “It was developing ownership skills for production and to produce a quality product.”
U of M Crookston horticulture alumni reside all over the country, some running their own greenhouses or providing sales for large companies. Wagner says the connections made between himself and his students was “something special” and he remains connected to them even today. “I loved those students and those students loved me,” he shared. “One of the highlights was when I received the John Tate Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising and was invited down to campus. I had students that drove all night to the reception. It was special.”
Wagner added he has former students that still call him and, in particular, he built a unique connection with Helgeson, who was one of his students. He occasionally visits her classes to provide advice and expertise to her students. “This bond, you can’t imagine,” Wagner continued. “I would meet students anywhere. I have students out there that are so successful, it warms my heart. And the letters that would come from parents would almost bring tears to your eye, how thankful they were. That was the atmosphere.”
In the classroom, Wagner not only taught his students about horticulture but also how to be a good leader and shepherd. “I told the students they need to be leaders and that there were two kinds of people in this world, the laborer that goes home at 5 o’clock and the shepherd that leaves after the last plant is watered,” Wagner explained.
“Students would leave the program and be prepared to go into the industry,” he added. “I was thanked by Gordon Bailey of Bailey Nurseries (St. Paul) for providing quality students, and he said every student that would come down there under my guidance he would hire them ‘on the spot’ because he wanted someone accountable.”
In his retirement years, Wagner is still doing research, making bird houses, growing plants, flowers, and produce, and shipping them across the country.
For more information about U of M Crookston’s horticulture program, visit https://crk.umn.edu/academics/horticulture
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